Live blog From Anthem of the Seas Transatlantic

[BourkeBlogs]

For those wondering about drinks packages, we have been sat at the bar in Vintages for around the last hour and there have only been 3 people who have had to sign for drinks. The rest would appear to be on a package and we would estimate there have been at least 50 customers in the last hour.

Edited October 30, 2015 by CruisenovicesUK
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[cruisedancemom]

I'm sorry the seas are spoiling things for you[emoji33] hope you are having a good time despite Mother Nature.

Your posts are fantastic and much appreciated. We are sailing on Anthem on Nov. 22 and really looking forward to it.

Thanks again for your posts and have a wonderful voyage!!

[BourkeBlogs]

Weather update....

 

It's still getting worse we have just come to 270 and a wave hit the bottom of the windows which is definitely more than the 20 feet forecast. Actually we've just been hit again, this time to the top of the 270 windows.

 

We have just been updated that the 2 showings of Spectras Cabaret have been cancelled tonight due to the safety of the performers. We were booked on one of the shows but when the announcement was made about the cancellation we were advised this would automatically re booked on either day 7 or day 8 of the cruise.

 

We were planning to go to the rescheduled bumper cars this afternoon but I would take a guess it will be off

 

The weather isn't an issue for us really and certainly isn't spoiling things. It's just one of those things and crossing the North Atlantic in October / November was never going to be smooth.

[BourkeBlogs]

Further weather update...

 

The captain has just given a further announcement.

 

Due to the conditions they have reduce speed and turned into the waves to try and reduce movement. Apparently it is due to calm down slightly around 9pm

 

It's actually great to watch the sea out of the window at 270, certainly an experience. Bet when they designed 270 they didn't do it for the great views of the waves!

[conandrob240]

This may be the effects of Patricia as she headed out into the Atlantic 2 days ago. This is one of the reasons I have qualms about a Transatlantic.

[Susie51]

Thank you for posting pics of yourself. You have a great smile. Thank you for continuing to post.

[Photofinish4]

Thank you for posting this great review. I have a couple of questions. Does the menu change in the free restaurants each night or is it the same in that particular restaurant? We have classic dining next Sept. 2016 rotating between 4 restaurants. Also do they serve lobster without a fee at all anymore? I hope your seas will settle down soon and look forward to reading the rest of your sailing. We did a ta out of Florida to England in May of 2014 and never even had a white cap. I should be thankful. Thank you again and safe sailing.

[rodge09]

For lunch today we weren't feeling that hungry so went to the Dog House in Seaplex.

 

I ordered one of the smoked sausages but unfortunately this was not available so had a Bratwurst which was tasty.

 

There is a Freestyle Coke machine here although we don't carry out cups round with us which you need to use it. When we ordered our drinks Fanta and Diet Coke is was served out of a can, although we were not given the can and this was poured into a glass. It's the only location so far where soft drinks have been served from a can rather than a soda gun. They also had some bottled beers available.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Just wanted to thank you for all the information and pictures, I have been checking your blog daily. We are on the November 10, 2015 cruise and this has been very helpful. Wish there was a way to treat you for all your time.

[kevinyork]

Thank you for posting this great review. I have a couple of questions. Does the menu change in the free restaurants each night or is it the same in that particular restaurant? We have classic dining next Sept. 2016 rotating between 4 restaurants. Also do they serve lobster without a fee at all anymore? I hope your seas will settle down soon and look forward to reading the rest of your sailing. We did a ta out of Florida to England in May of 2014 and never even had a white cap. I should be thankful. Thank you again and safe sailing.

 

 

We were on Anthem a few weeks ago. The 4 free restaurants switch menus every 4 days so days 1-4, menu A, days 5-8, menu B, days 9-12 menu A etc. So on class dining each time you visit a certain restaurant the menu alternates. No free lobster on our ex UK sailing but Quantum sailings ex US appeared to have lobster so perhaps it will make an appearance when Anthem reaches the states.

 

 

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[kevinyork]

CruisenovicesUK--- looks great! Thank you and keep it up :)

 

I do have a question tho--- it seems as if drink prices on Anthem are higher than other ships.

 

Would you recommend the drink package? My wife and I are going back and forth.

 

We usually get the Premium package... And prior to this review thought it would be too much to spend... But looking at the menu prices, we might settle and get it.

 

Any thoughts on that in your opinion?

 

Thanks!

 

-Michael

 

 

Just to point out that as this is an ex UK sailing the prices shown are inclusive of the 18% service charge.

 

 

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[Photofinish4]

My DW would like to know if the weigh in for the North Star is visible to the other passengers or is it private and just tabulated for gross weight limit..

Also do they have a weight limitation on ifly

[Beccafcr]

Loving your review. Am just off Anthem and still miss it!

 

I would love to see footage of the waves from two70!

[Photofinish4]

We were on Anthem a few weeks ago. The 4 free restaurants switch menus every 4 days so days 1-4, menu A, days 5-8, menu B, days 9-12 menu A etc. So on class dining each time you visit a certain restaurant the menu alternates. No free lobster on our ex UK sailing but Quantum sailings ex US appeared to have lobster so perhaps it will make an appearance when Anthem reaches the states.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Thank you for answering. Being we are sailing New England and Canadian ports maybe they will sub lobster for the shrimp.

[kevinyork]

My DW would like to know if the weigh in for the North Star is visible to the other passengers or is it private and just tabulated for gross weight limit..

 

Also do they have a weight limitation on ifly

 

 

They do weigh you for the Northstar but hide the readout from you and everyone else.

 

On I-fly they weighed our group the first time and questioned one guy about his height, as taller people have a higher weight allowance. On the next 4 goes none of the group were weighed presumably as everyone looked to be easily within the weight limit.

 

 

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[BourkeBlogs]

Thank you for answering. Being we are sailing New England and Canadian ports maybe they will sub lobster for the shrimp.

 

 

Hi to confirm, there is has been no free lobster on this sailing so far.

 

I think I have seen it as a chargeable option from Chops but anywhere else. The jumbo shrimp in The Grande tasted very lobster like.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BourkeBlogs]

My DW would like to know if the weigh in for the North Star is visible to the other passengers or is it private and just tabulated for gross weight limit..

 

Also do they have a weight limitation on ifly

 

 

 

They do weigh you for the Northstar but hide the readout from you and everyone else.

 

On I-fly they weighed our group the first time and questioned one guy about his height, as taller people have a higher weight allowance. On the next 4 goes none of the group were weighed presumably as everyone looked to be easily within the weight limit.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

 

On North Star the other day the scales were located at the front of the queue at the bottom of the stairs before you go up to the capsule. They did weigh everyone, regardless of size.

 

No one else will see your weight. As its is normal digital scales you can look down to view this. We didn't as we don't want to know how much weight we have put on whilst on the cruise so far and will worry about it when we get home.

 

I have just checked the waiver form for iFly on the cabin tv and the maximum weight for anyone under 6 foot is 230lbs and for anyone over 6 foot it is 250lbs

 

 

 

 

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[BourkeBlogs]

Loving your review. Am just off Anthem and still miss it!

 

 

 

I would love to see footage of the waves from two70!

 

 

I have tried but can't get a video which shows the scale of it. Even tried taking photos but due to the spray on the windows it doesn't really work unfortunately, sorry

 

 

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[Beccafcr]

Aww no worries! Hope your enjoying it even though it's rocky!

[Tura Lura]

so is there a place to stash eyeglasses etc. outside the iFLY?

[kevinyork]

so is there a place to stash eyeglasses etc. outside the iFLY?

 

 

Yes. After the video you move into an area with shelves and cubicles to store personal stuff.

 

 

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[Setting sail for fun]

Hope the weather gets better soon!

 

It is somewhat exciting though.

 

We were once on Navigator of the Seas during a hurricane. We were in the Viking Crown Bar at the top of the ship and the waiters looked they were walking uphill due to the angle the ship. Don't know what percentage of list that was.

 

You are doing well being cruise novices.

[MisterBill99]

Hi to confirm, there is has been no free lobster on this sailing so far.

That's amusing, since on the Anthem FB group people have said that Grande had lobster the 2nd night.

[BourkeBlogs]

My posts are slightly out of order today with some of the updates being this afternoon but in this one I will start from mid morning.

 

As iFly was cancelled we were able to go to day 2 of the progressive trivia quiz, and we ended up doing much better than yesterday.

 

We had planned to go to Divinely Decadance for lunch. We thought this was an a la carte lunch but when we got there realised this was just a buffet. The restaurant was small and very limited lunch options so we decided not to eat here and went to the main buffet instead.

 

The WJ was really good at lunchtime, it wasn't too busy when we got there around 12:30. I had a burger which was good, although the bun was dry and my OH had freshly carved turkey which she said was great. They also do warm cookies on the bread counter and these were amazing.

 

This afternoon in 270 (when I had typed some of the updates) there was a majority rules game, which was fun. We didn't take part in this but it was funny hearing some of the teams answers.

 

Bumper cars was cancelled so we decided to have a sleep before dinner. Think getting up at 5:30am was a bad idea.

 

Tonight we went to Jamie's Italian. This wasn't somewhere we had planned on going and the only chargeable restaurants we booked before the cruise were Chops and Wonderland but since being onboard there are is a promotion on where you can go to any 3 of the chargeable restaurants for $80 so we asked about going onto this deal which we are able to do meaning we booked Jamie's for tonight, the only other night we have not got a dinner booked for.

 

Our booking was for 6pm which would have allowed us to fit it in with Spectra's Cabaret but even though the show is cancelled it has worked out well.

 

The food in Jamie's was great, but the portions were huge meaning we just could not eat the volume of food which was given for each course. If we knew about the portion sizes before ordering we would have definitely ordered less.

 

The service was the best we have experienced all cruise. Our waiter Aleksander gave recommendations for each course and explained each dish. When we did order he also gave recommendations for side orders and it did in fact change our choices.

 

The biggest down side of this restaurant is the table size was way too small and the waiter struggled to fit everything on the table.

 

 

The meat plank, this was fantastic and our waiter explained the meats are sliced to order. Be warned though the chillies were extremely hot.

 

Calamari

 

Baked mushrooms

 

Beef lasagne

 

Prawn linguine

[BourkeBlogs]

Funky chips, posh chips and fresh seasonal greens

 

 

For dessert we went with the waiters recommendation of lemon meringue cheesecake and tiramisu

 

 

 

Here are the menus, I realised today that in the Royal IQ app some of the menus are available so have got clearer pictures from there and only took the drinks menu picture in the restaurant.

 

 

 

[BourkeBlogs]

Jamie's is $30 on an evening and $20 at lunch time. The lunch menu is slightly different and here it is